A conventional structure for taking up a metal wire on a reel and fixing the end of the metal wire when wound up full, as shown in FIG. 15, generally comprises a small hole 22 formed in the outer periphery of a flange 21 and an engaging member 23 of a steel wire or a spring plate on the outside surface of the flange 21 in the vicinity of the small hole 22. The metal wire end Wo led out of the small hole 22 is held between the engaging member 23 and the outside surface of the flange 21.
In another fixing structure disclosed by Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-7331, as shown in FIG. 16, a notch 32 is formed in an outer peripheral edge 31a of a flange, and an engaging member 33 is installed on the outside surface of the flange 31 in proximity to the notch 32, so that the metal wire end Wo is passed through the notch 32 and held between the engaging member 33 and the outside surface of the flange 31.
In the conventional structure of FIG. 15 for winding wire on a reel, it takes time to pass the metal wire end Wo through the small hole 22, and it also is troublesome and time consuming to be required to remove the end Wo at the time of wire release. Also, in the case where the metal wire is a twisted wire of many strands such as steel cord or wire rope, the end Wo of strands becomes loose, making it difficult to pass the wire through the small hole 22. It therefore becomes necessary to wind the end Wo with tape or to fuse the strands together by welding in advance, thereby requiring a very troublesome and time consuming wire winding procedure.
In a rubber coating or calendering process for tires, which is one of the intermediate processes for tire production, steel cords are normally supplied from more than 500 reels. In the tire production process, the procedure for releasing the end of the steel cord from an engaging member on all the reels is performed at the same time. The time to be spent for the wire release procedure is required to be only a few seconds. The disadvantage of the conventional structure of FIG. 15 is the considerable trouble and time required to be taken for wire release.
In the structure of FIG. 16, on the other hand, the task of passing the metal wire end Wo through a small hole is eliminated, and therefore the working efficiency is improved. The notch 32, however, considerably reduces the flange strength of the particular portion, with the result that the side pressure generated when winding the metal wire on the reel distorts the flange. Consequently, the winding form of the wire is deformed or the service life of the reel is shortened.
It is therefore desired to provide a metal wire winding reel in which the end of the metal wire can be easily engaged and released from the winding reel without shortening the reel life.